Lexington Prepsters Make Team USA First Cut

USA baseball announced yesterday that they had trimmed their candidates for the Junior National Baseball Team down to 32. Included in this number were two lads hailing from right here in the Commonwealth. Both Nick Maronde, a left-handed pitcher from Lexington Catholic, and Robbie Ross, a left-handed pitcher from Lexington Christian will now compete against the other 30 pariticipants for one of 20 slots on the final roster. Once the final team is assembled, the USA Junior National Team will travel to Mexico to compete in the Confederation of Pan American Baseball Federations AAA Pan-Am Junior Championships (Couldn't they have just named this something like, "Happy-Fun-Time Ball Tournament for the Younguns"?) at the end of August. This tournament will serve as a qualifier for the 2008 World Championships. Lexington baseball has made an unbelievable amount of progress over the last 15 years not only in facilities, but also in talent. The city now regularly produces high-caliber players that are recognized nationally by organizations such as USA Baseball and professional scouts. Furthermore, a Lexington team has won the State Baseball Tournament 5 out of the last 10 years. Congratulations to these two young men and buena suerte (good luck in Spanish-talk) in your quest of making the final team.